- Health officials in South Dakota, Nebraska, and Minnesota have now recovered several new COVID-19 cases following a motorcycle rally held between Aug. 7 and 16 in Sturgis, South Dakota.
- The rally, which drew hundreds of thousands of cyclists to the city of 6,900 people, is linked to 15 new cases of coronavirus in Nebraska, seven in Minnesota, and multiple incidents in South Dakota, according to CNN.
- The event was one of the largest public gatherings in the US since the coronavirus pandemic began.
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Less than a week after the closing of a massive 10-day motorcycle rally in Sturgis, South Dakota, state health officials, as well as in Nebraska and Minnesota, returned several new COVID-19 cases after the incident.
The rally, which drew hundreds of thousands of cyclists to Sturgis, is linked to 15 new COVID-19 cases in Nebraska, seven in Minnesota, and several new cases in South Dakota, according to CNN. Social distancing and wearing a mask were relatively painful at the rally, according to The New York Times.
Kris Ehresmann, director of the Minnesota Department of Health’s Infectious Diseases, told CNN that the state expects its number of positive tests linked to the rally to increase in the coming days.
The rally was one of the largest public gatherings in the U.S. since the coronavirus pandemic began, with the South Dakota Department of Transportation counting 462,182 cars during the event.
Phone location data collected by data firm X-Mode Social revealed that visitors to Sturgis came from all parts of the U.S., including states that have recently experienced rising rates in COVID-19 cases such as Arizona, Texas and Georgia.
This year’s rally, which was the town’s 80th, took place despite opposition from Sturgis’ own residents. A majority of its residents were in favor of postponing the event, according to a poll by city-sponsored 3,290 homes.
